A HIGH Court bench observed that government officials are merely the servants of the republic, and they are not “very important persons” (VIPs). Only the President and the Prime Minister of the country are the VVIPs (very, very important persons) and security issues are involved with regard to their movements, said the Bench of Justice FRM Nazmul Ahasan and Justice KM Kamrul Kader, while hearing a writ petition filed in connection with the death of 13-year-old Titash Ghosh.
The big issue here is our VIP culture, a colonial legacy that puts certain people ahead of the rest of the population and accords them undue privileges. It’s reminiscent of the now-defunct system of apartheid in South Africa, which institutionalised racial segregation and sought its legitimacy by promoting the perceived importance of a certain class for their nation.
The tragedy of the schoolboy, however, has come as a jolting reminder of the dangerous consequences of such practices. Colonial practices existed as the British thought themselves natural superiors in terms of race and religion to anything in the Indian sub-continent. But the higher-ups in our administration must understand that they are of the same race, religion, and culture as those (the rest of society) whom they are governing. So the concept of being ‘superior’–an insolent notion to begin with should not exist at all.
It is high time that these so-called big wigs be put in their place. Government cars are allowed to use obnoxious horns which wreak havoc on our already deadened ears while they are allowed to use tinted glasses on the pretext that they are transporting VIPs–another outdated term. As recently as last year a certain section of these officials even had the audacity to suggest that a separate lane be created for them on all the roads of Dhaka.This is perhaps the height of arrogance, it is as if to suggest that we are all sheep being lorded over by an especially pugnacious type of lion–or whatever these people think of themselves.
Government servants are merely servants of the people. It is high time these people realise that they are servants and not masters.
